Northern Ireland Police Chief Hugh Orde steps down

Hugh Orde, Northern Ireland’s Police Chief Constable, has stepped down from his post as head of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) to become a visiting professor at the University of Ulster.

Orde’s often-controversial tenure as police chief ended on Monday after seven years in charge of policing the north.

The 51-year-old will now become president of the Association of Chief Police Officers and will also take up an unpaid post at the school of criminology, politics and social policy at the University of Ulster.

Orde will be succeeded in his post by the current Leicestershire police chief Matt Baggott, who will take up the role on September 22, with PSNI deputy chief Judith Gillespie taking charge in the meantime.

Orde’s eventful tenure occurred during a time of unprecedented change for the northern police force, where he managed a series of sweeping reforms mandated by the peace process. Today almost 30% of the North’s police force now Catholic, compared with only 8% in the former Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC).